Comment Archives: Last 30 Days
Re: “Tunnel Vision Part One: Delta in Peril”
Hot doggy ! Mike Wade says we should have concerns with the BDCP.
Hey Mike, some of those concerns ARE accurate and based in facts not emotions.
How about we concentrate on the one fact and glaring omission that is not in dispute.
1. The BDCP has cancelled their Benefit/Cost analysis,
http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/2013/04/bdc…
and is instead feeding us misleading piecemeal propaganda.
http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/2013/06/cha…
Who should we trust Mike, a paid propagandist for Central Valley Big Ag or Jeffrey Michaels, the Director of the Business Forecasting Center at the University of the Pacific.
It's an easy call for me.
Re: “Smoke Berkeley”
Great BBQ and sides. Fantastic chocolate pecan pie. Friendly chef and staff.
Re: “Is Berkeley's New Build Pizzeria More Than Just a Gimmick?”
I'm not a super big fan of design your own, despite being a passable home cook and all. We were in Westwood LA last weekend and visited a pizzeria there serving thin-crust in 800 degree ovens (name of restaurant was...800 Degrees) and the pizza was pretty good even if we chose our own add-ons to the base sauces.
It reminds me vaguely of those casual restaurants that ask you to bus your own dishes...which I have no problem doing. I simply have a problem leaving a tip when I do my own bussing.
Re: “Native Here Nursery”
Terrific variety of local native plants and wonderful volunteers. Plants to sparkle in our gardens and support butterflies, birds and bees, as well as delight your family and friends.
Re: “Rich, Black, Flunking”
It's important to remember that Ogbu's research was referring to black failure at this particular privileged high school. He never said it was the reason for all black failure, and I doubt the parents would have called him in if he always found blacks responsible for their own failures. Black organizations that condemn him for these findings only discredit themselves. A true scientist will honestly report all findings, whether those findings support an agenda or not, and Ogbu wants people to trust his research, so he's willing to admit when he didn't find racism. If all you ever find is racism, people stop listening to you, because you are the boy who cries wolf. People will now be more likely to listen when Ogbu does find racism, because he has demonstrated he won't call it where it doesn't exist. I'm aware racism exists, but that's in spite of people like Al Sharpton and Kanye West, not because of them. What I've seen of Shaker Heights speaks volumes, and the school aims to enroll black students and has very enthusiastic, idealistic (and often young) teachers who try hard to make learning fun. They should be rewarded with equally enthusiastic students.
I have taught 1st and 2nd grade in Oakland, and I was surprised at how many kids, even at this young age, would skip school! When I was a child, only the worst kids would skip a class, and that was in middle and high school. NOBODY skipped class in elementary school! If they had, the teacher would have reported this to the parents, who would spank the child. There was also no bribing with toys in my elementary school, which I saw many Oakland teachers doing. The teachers would control classroom behavior by dropping marbles into a jar and, when the jar was full, they'd let the class watch a movie. This technique was sufficient to control the behavior of the entire class, because our parents handled discipline problems at home. It seems some Oakland parents don't understand what's normal.
Watching Sesame Street, and other educational childhood shows, is normal. Playing educational games with your children is normal. Reading your children bedtime stories every night, until they are old enough to read, is normal. YOU are expected to teach your child to read. If you rely solely on the school, his reading skills will be poor. When I learned about plate tectonic theory, as a child, I asked my father why Pangea was not in the Bible. He told me "Because it's a lie. There never was any Pangea, and plate tectonic theory is a lie." I got a D in science that year. The problem is, there is no point in learning a lie, so I just didn't. Your attitude towards your child's education will become their attitude towards it.
Re: “Thursday Must Reads: Oakland Budget Battles Heat Up; Mayor Quan’s Chief of Staff Appointed to School Board”
I wrote an article about the lawsuit against the city of San Leandro last week, including the complaint filed with the court. Anyone interested can find it here: http://sanleandrotalk.voxpublica.org/2013/…
Last summer, after this botched sting operation, I wrote to San Leandro's Mayor Cassidy about how targeting gay men for this type operations and then using the press humiliate them and "out" them was wrong. Unfortunately the Mayor disagreed. My correspondence with Cassidy and my subsequent remarks to the City Council can be found at http://sanleandrotalk.voxpublica.org/2013/…
Re: “Privatizing UC Instruction”
UCB was incredible in 1990 for me simply because of the serendipity of who I met in which classes. The heated debate following us to Cafe Strada. Meeting in person and going to real time office hours of faculty who I then sought out later as advisors. Relationships matter...having paid canned instruction just doesn't replace that. My daughter at CSUEB took online remedial math and easily passed. But she had to drop the next class in math...she wasn't adequately prepared. Public and when online, online with UC faculty to supplement, not replace real in class debate!
Re: “Thursday Must Reads: Oakland Budget Battles Heat Up; Mayor Quan’s Chief of Staff Appointed to School Board”
For the record: it's not necessarily the budget that "will ultimately determine" whether employees get raises. Mayor Quan's proposal to the Council is that they leave some flexibility in the budget, to allow the City's negotiating team to seriously consider employee compensation issues at the bargaining table. We can have both: a big investment in public safety AND a fair contract.
If we respect the collective bargaining process, we can avoid pitting employees' compensation against public safety funding. Setting aside some funds to let the City bargain in good faith is the best way to do it.
Re: “Is UC Berkeley's Plan to Cut Down 54,000 Trees Necessary?”
I don’t think any trees should be cut, not even for thinning. It’s not necessary, especially if dry litter is removed periodically. Besides being unnecessary, tree cutting is harmful because it is being followed up by herbicide on the stumps and on “unwanted foliage.” No herbicides should be used, ever. All living organisms, including us humans, are already poisoned through and through. This means enormous suffering in the form of illness, disability and death. It makes no sense to continue poisoning ourselves and all life around us.
The proposed plan would create a definite ecological and health disaster lasting for generations while actually increasing the risk of wildfire—all on the pretext of preventing a fire disaster that might never happen. There are real fire prevention measures, like creating and enforcing better building codes and better landscape maintenance by homeowners, some of which have already been done.
A life-sustaining plan would be to hire unemployed people to clear dry forest litter whenever needed and maybe remove low-hanging branches. Don’t give more money to Monsanto and Dow or to logging companies.
For some great national and international perspectives on this profit-driven plan, see http://www.care2.com/causes/fema-to-replac…
The comments include one from a Katrina survivor who warns against trusting FEMA. And this pithy comment from Gloria p., “What about filling up the oceans with cement so we don’t have hurricanes?”
Re: “Is UC Berkeley's Plan to Cut Down 54,000 Trees Necessary?”
I don’t think any trees should be cut, not even for thinning. It’s not necessary, especially if dry litter is removed periodically. Besides being unnecessary, tree cutting is harmful because it's being followed up by herbicide on the stumps and on “unwanted foliage.” No herbicides should be used, ever. All living organisms, including us humans, are already poisoned through and through. This means enormous suffering in the form of illness, disability and death. It makes no sense to continue poisoning ourselves and all life around us.
The proposed plan would definitely create a ecological and health disaster lasting for generations while actually increasing the risk of wildfire—all on the pretext of preventing a fire disaster that might never happen. There are real fire prevention measures, like creating and enforcing better building codes and better landscape maintenance by homeowners, some of which have already been done.
A life-sustaining plan would be to hire unemployed people to clear dry forest litter whenever needed and maybe remove low-hanging branches. Don’t give more money to Monsanto and Dow or to logging companies.
For some great national and international perspectives on this profit-driven plan, see http://www.care2.com/causes/fema-to-replac…
The comments include one from a Katrina survivor who warns against trusting FEMA. And this pithy comment from Gloria p., “What about filling up the oceans with cement so we don’t have hurricanes?”
Re: “Tunnel Vision Part One: Delta in Peril”
What a well-researched, clear and detailed article. I am so grateful that you've covered this important topic so well!
Re: “Berkeley Farmers' Market”
The new location rocks! And it's located in more of a food desert.
Re: “Tunnel Vision Part One: Delta in Peril”
The author says that BDCP is more likely than the Portfolios plan to win approval in the state legislature. In fact, the legislature does not have to approve BDCP or the peripheral tunnels. The Department of Water Resources claims it is authorized to proceed under the Burns-Porter Act that authorized the State Water Project in 1960. Beneficiaries will pay for only part of this massive project, with taxpayers covering environmental mitigation and long-term bond interest. This is an extraordinary long-term commitment for something California's voters approved 50 years ago, and the legislature SHOULD be involved in evaluating costs and benefits to the entire state.
Re: “Shots, Licks, and Male Ennui”
"Most importantly, the actors — two of whom were plucked from a family-run Shakespeare troupe — create a realistic portrayal of male ennui in the 'hood."
Shakespeare ???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=721_KL2saBs
Re: “Hawaiians May Beat Californians to Legalized Pot”
it is my personal experience that marijuana is better than alcohol or other drugs. but like anything else moderation is key
Re: “Loopholes in ADA Law Make "No Pets" Clauses Nearly Impossible to Enforce”
I have a friend whose wife is severely allergic to dogs. He said he often has to take her to the ER because of it. Presumably she has allergic asthma and she encounters a surprise dog.
People can die because of asthma.
I have an extreme dog allergy. I get sick for 5 days if I'm exposed to a dog for more than 5 seconds. If I'm in a building where a dog is, and it isn't huge, I get very sick.
The well-intentioned ADA law is horrible for people with allergies. It gives them no refuge, because someone with a service dog can't be refused. Never mind that there are many places that allow dogs in general these days - you still can't legally exclude service dogs, in the name of not discriminating against people with disabilities.
Re: “Yelp and the Business of Extortion 2.0”
June 2013 and Yelp is still up to the same scam. We had 18 positive reviews gathered over three years removed and the first negative we got a few days ago shows and the negative review has no community rating, picture and its their only review. After reading the scam reports on Yelp I'm sure the pushy phone call for $300 a month is next.
Re: “Tunnel Vision Part One: Delta in Peril”
Hmmm...kinda of a weak, .on-definitive wishy-washy sub-title, dontcha think: "How Jerry Brown's plan to build two giant water tunnels **could** devastate..." Will it? Will it not? Maybe
....? but then maybe not?
Re: “Berkeley Farmers' Market”
Great new location, great food.